Commentary on the Psalms (In Psalmos Davidis Expositio)

Above, the Psalmist implored divine help against his persecutors, where he says, "judge"; he also showed their wickedness, where he says, "the unjust said"; he taught contempt for the prosperity of the wicked in the aforesaid Psalm, "be not emulous"; but in this Psalm he confesses that he is afflicted for his sins. Concerning this, then, he does two things. First he sets forth his affliction. Second, his caution for the future, where he says, "I said, I will keep watch." The title is, "A Psalm of David, for a remembrance." Augustine added, "for a remembrance of the sabbath"; but this is found neither in the Hebrew nor in Jerome. And it should be known that this is the third of the penitential Psalms, and the diversities of the Psalms are referred to the diverse acts of penance and the commemoration of sins. And so he says, "for a remembrance," namely of sins. Psalm 38: "I will recall to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul." But if "sabbath" is added, it pertains to the end of this remembrance, namely why one should be afflicted and should remember, that is, for the sake of the sabbath, that is, for the sake of the rest promised. Isaiah 58: "If you turn your foot away from the sabbath... you shall be called the sabbath a delight," that is, a delightful rest. The Psalm is therefore divided into two parts. In the first he asks for mercy. Second he expounds his misery, where he says, "for your arrows." Mercy is asked from a judge whose punishment is feared. A judge first accuses in words: Psalm 49: "I will accuse you." Afterward he corrects in deeds. The Psalmist therefore does not ask that he not be accused, but that he not be accused in fury; hence he says, "Lord, rebuke me not in your fury." Fury and wrath in God do not imply commotion, because Wisdom 12: "he judges with tranquility." But as to their effect they are said of God, because one who is furious does not spare. Hence he asks to be corrected, but not in wrath; therefore he says, "nor chastise me in your wrath," because, as is said in Proverbs 6, "the zeal and fury of a man will not spare in the day of vengeance." Hence one accuses in fury when he does not spare: as in Matthew 25: "I was hungry, and you gave me not," and so forth; likewise, "go, accursed, into everlasting fire." Hence I ask to be corrected, but not in fury. Second he treats of the judge's punishment. And there is a twofold punishment. One is unto extermination, and this is the punishment of hell; and this he asks not be inflicted on him, when he says, "Lord, not in fury," and so forth. The other is unto correction, and this he asks be inflicted on him. But he asks that he not be chastised in wrath, where he says, "nor in your wrath," that is, with grave punishment, "chastise me": Jeremiah 10: "Correct me, O Lord, but yet in judgment, and not in fury."

"For your arrows." Mercy has no place except where there is misery. And so concerning this he does two things. First he commemorates his manifold misery. Second he asks for divine help, where he says, "forsake me not." He shows first the misery that he suffers from what is above, namely from God inflicting it. Second he shows the misery he suffers from within, namely from a gnawing conscience, where he says, "there is no peace." Third, from without, namely from man scorning him, where he says, "my friends." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the divine striking. Second the effect of the striking, where he says, "there is no health." Here he speaks in such a way that it may be referred in one way to the striking of tribulation which God sends; in another way to the commotion of contrition. In the first way these three things fit together. A striking is grave for two reasons: because it penetrates the innermost parts, and because by it a man is converted. And as to this it is said first, because it reaches even to the inmost parts; hence he says, "your arrows," that is, your striking, "are fastened in me," namely even to the interior parts: Job 6: "the arrows of the Lord are in me, whose indignation drinks up my spirit." Second, because strikings of this kind do not quickly pass, but remain; hence he says, "you have confirmed your hand upon me": Isaiah 30: "the passing of the rod shall be established, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him"; Hebrews 10: "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Third, because they are grave; and this is the reason for what he says, "not in fury," because I have already been sufficiently shot with arrows. "There is no health." Here he sets forth the effects of the shooting with arrows. My flesh is disordered, subject to corruption and infection: Romans 7: "I know that there dwells not in me," that is, in my flesh, "good." In another way it can be understood of the commemoration of contrition; and thus he assigns the reason why he does not wish to be punished by God. "For your arrows." The arrows of God are the words of God: Isaiah 49: "he has made me as a chosen arrow." Now when a sinner hears the words of God, and they are fastened in his heart, he then stores them up in his heart, and yet is not pierced with compunction by them, and for this he is worthy of fury: because he has not been pierced with compunction by the words of God. But as Gregory says, "the tongue of the preacher labors in vain outwardly, if the power of the redeemer does not work within." And so it is necessary that the hand of God fasten these arrows even to the inmost parts; and so he says, "you have confirmed your hand upon me." "In my flesh": Galatians 5: "the flesh lusts against the spirit," and so forth. When the flesh has health, the spirit is weak; and conversely, namely when the spirit is healthy and strong, the flesh is weak, because whatever pertains to the flesh is wholly enervated: Psalm 108: "my flesh is changed because of oil." The effect, then, of the word of God sent, or fastened, is that it withers the concupiscence of the flesh: Colossians 3: "mortify your members," and so forth. Origen says, according to the first exposition, "from the face," that is, from the consideration of your wrath, because through your words the wrath of the future judgment is considered. And from this the flesh withers.

"And there is no peace for my bones." Here he shows the interior misery, that is, the sin because of which he suffers tribulation; as if he were to say: the health of the flesh is taken away by consideration of your wrath; but recognizing my sins, my spirit too is shaken; hence he says, "there is no peace for my bones," that is, for my spirit: Isaiah 57: "there is no peace to the wicked, says the Lord." And this, "from the face of my sins," that is, because of the multitude and gravity of my sins I cannot have peace of mind. But do you have tribulation? And he says that he does. Hence he set forth that he has it. And first he sets forth his sins. Second, the lack of peace. There are three things that aggravate sins: namely the multitude of sins, their gravity, and their repetition, because if one sins frequently, it is grave. He says, then, as to the first, "for my iniquities are gone over my head." This is a manner of speaking. By "iniquities" the multitude of sins is signified, because just as water overwhelms a man, so sins submerge a man. And water does not do this except when it grows so much that it exceeds the head. As if he were to say: they have so multiplied that they have risen above my head. Psalm 68: "I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing." 2 Chronicles, last chapter: "I have sinned above the number of the sand of the sea, and my sins are multiplied." And he says, "above my head," that is, above my mind, drawn into consent to sin. A man is disposed toward sin in three ways. Sometimes he is only in concupiscence, and his mind resists; and then it does not reach the head. Sometimes he consents, but out of passion; and then, although it reaches the head, it does not go over it. But when men rejoice that they have done evil and exult in the worst things (Proverbs 2), then the iniquities go over the head. As to the second he says: "as a heavy burden they are become heavy upon me." Sins are said to weigh down because they press down after the manner of a heavy thing. The more, therefore, a man is pressed down, the more he withdraws from God. Zechariah 1: "iniquity sits upon a talent." Isaiah 1: "a people laden with iniquity." Another reading has: "it lifted up on high," because sometimes grave sins lead into contempt, and the wicked man grows proud when he has come into the depth of sins (Proverbs 18). As to the third he says, because of relapse: "my scars are putrefied and corrupted." A scar is left from a wound: so also when someone has sinned, and the sin has been forgiven him, but there still remains a proneness to sin, it is like a scar from a wound. Sometimes God heals it through satisfaction and the exercise of good works. Jeremiah 30: "I will close up your scar, and will heal you of your wounds." But sometimes we do not guard ourselves well; and just as through a physician's lack of skill, sometimes an infirmity generates putrefaction within and corrupts the member, so it is with the sinner: because when a sin is not cured through correction or through penance, there arises putrefaction within, that is, delight in the past sin, and he consents to another like it. Joel 1: "the beasts have rotted in their own dung." From this follows corruption, when the sin proceeds into act. Or there is corruption when they are not only putrefied in themselves, but exhale through infamy toward others, "from the face of my foolishness." When a physician heals, sometimes through his own lack of skill the wound is made to putrefy; so from the foolishness of a man who does not know how to guard himself well, he suffers a relapse. Proverbs 14: "they err that work evil."

"Miserable." Above the Psalmist said: "there is no peace for my bones"; and he showed what his sins are, because many, grave, and repeated; here he treats of the taking away of peace; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the disquiet opposed to peace; second he sets forth the remedy of consolation and hope, where he says, "Lord, before you." He shows the disquiet of his soul in two ways. First as to dejection, and as to the irascible power; second as to the dejection of the heart, which pertains to the commotion of the concupiscible power, where he says, "all the day." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the cause of dejection; second, the dejection itself. The cause of dejection is that "I am become miserable," that is, I recognize my misery. Misery is opposed to happiness; and therefore it consists in contrary things. Human happiness consists in the things of the world. Psalm 143: "they have called the people happy that has these things." True happiness consists in cleaving to God; and so it follows: "yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." He is therefore miserable from this, that he is turned away from God through sin. Proverbs 14: "sin makes nations miserable." He, then, knowing himself separated from God through sin, considers himself miserable; and from this his soul is said to be cast down: hence he says, "I am bowed down." This bowing down can be referred to the depression of the soul because of the heaviness of sin, since sins act like a heavy burden, which bows a man down and makes him look at the earth; so sins make one look at the lower things, and do not permit him to tend by his affection toward the higher things. 2 Chronicles 36: "I am bowed down with a great chain of iron." Or it can be referred to humility; as if he were to say: I am bowed down on account of humility, because when a man recognizes his sin, he does not savor lofty things. Luke 18, concerning the publican, "who would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven." And this bowing down should not be momentary, but throughout the whole life: hence he says, "unto the end," namely of life, as long as the corruption of the body lasts. Romans 7: "unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Consequently he treats of the sorrow of heart; and he does three things. First he sets forth the sorrow; second the cause of the sorrow; third the magnitude of the sorrow. He says therefore: not only am I humbled against pride, but I am also "made sorrowful," against the delight of sin; and this is a good sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7: "for the sorrow that is according to God is good." And he touches on two things concerning the sorrow. First, that it must be continuous; hence he says, "all the day." Romans 9: "continual sorrow in my heart." Psalm 6: "every night I will wash my bed." Jeremiah 9: "and I will weep day and night for the slain of my people." Augustine: "let him always grieve, and rejoice in his grief." Second, because there is a certain sorrow that is absorbing, which leads into despair. 2 Corinthians 2: "lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." There is a certain sorrow that is aggravating; and this is sloth, which so casts down that it does not permit one to do good. But the sorrow of the penitent is not so, but is accompanied with hope and the exercise of good works; hence he says, "I went," that is, in life and good works I made progress. The progress of good is an entering in, because the spiritual goods toward which the good man tends are interior. Philippians 3: "forgetting the things that are behind" (that is, the temporal goods to which sinners tend, which are exterior), "and stretching myself forth to those that are before." Proverbs 4: "I will lead you by the paths of equity, which when you shall have entered, your steps shall not be straitened."

"Because my loins are filled with illusions." Here is set forth the cause of the sorrow. According to the Gloss it is explained that by "loins" the soul is understood. And he says "loins," because there is delight there. And "there is no health in my flesh," so as to show himself infirm both within and without. But it is better explained otherwise, that he is afflicted through sin when he recognizes his misery. Now misery is recognized especially in the corruption of sensuality. Romans 7: "I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind." And he adds: "unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" As if he were to say: therefore I know myself to be miserable, and am made sorrowful, because "my loins are filled with illusions." Literally, carnal delight fills me with illusions, because the devil uses our sensuality as an instrument, and where he sees us weak, there he attacks us. Proverbs 14: "sin mocks fools." Now these illusions of various things arise from a twofold cause. Sometimes from corruption, because the flesh always seeks what is fitting to itself, as far as is in itself; and unless the spirit restrains it, it is necessary that it delight in these things; and it is impossible for the spirit to be always vigilant; and so it is necessary that it be mocked. Sometimes such illusions arise from one's own spirit, namely when someone often inserts into himself such carnal thoughts; and this is at first a venial sin; then, if he consents, it becomes mortal; and this he recognizes, not as from the flesh, but as from himself; hence he says: "there is no health in my flesh." Romans 7: "I know that there dwells not in me, that is, in my flesh, good."

"Afflicted." Here he sets forth the magnitude of the sorrow. And first he sets forth such magnitude. Second he sets forth the sign, where he says, "I roared." He set forth two things in the sorrow. The first, that he was made sorrowful. The second, that he was bowed down. By the first he designates the sorrow, by the second indeed the dejection; and these two he has to repeat here. As to his being bowed down, he says, "humbled." As to his being made sorrowful he says, "afflicted"; and both exceedingly; and this because of the magnitude of the evil that had befallen him, because sin is the greatest evil. And so he is afflicted with many sorrows. Likewise, because of the loss of a great good: Jeremiah 2: "see and know how evil a thing it is to have forsaken the Lord," and so forth. Likewise, according to Origen, because of the change of state, from the state of grace and virtue into the state of sin. Boethius: "it is a great kind of unhappiness to have been happy": Job 29: "who will grant me that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me?" A sign of great sorrow is roaring; therefore he says, "I roared from the groaning of my heart." Roaring is said to be the voice of beasts, namely the lion and the bear, because of the vehemence of pain or hunger. Hence roaring is the vehemence of weeping: Job 3: "my roaring is like the overflowing of waters." Hence, "I roared," that is, I wept most bitterly. But it sometimes happens that someone weeps outwardly, yet not from an inward commotion of the soul. But I do not weep so; rather this roaring proceeds "from the groaning of my heart": Lamentations 1: "many are my groans, and my heart is sorrowful"; Isaiah 59: "we shall all roar like bears."

"Lord, all my desire is before you." Here is set forth the remedy of consolation. And first he shows that in God alone is the remedy of his consolation. Second he shows that this is necessary for him, because he has in himself nothing from which he might be consoled, where he says, "my heart." Hosea 13: "your destruction is from yourself, O Israel; your help is only from me." Now there is a twofold sorrow. There is a certain sorrow that induces despair; and this takes away desire and groaning, because both of these occur in secret; therefore desire and interior groaning are known to God; hence he says, "Lord, all my desire is before you." Before you it is approved that I desire, and therefore I hope it will be given to me through you: Proverbs 10: "the desire of the just shall be granted"; Psalm 9: "the Lord has heard the desire of the poor." In another way thus: "before you," that is, it is known to you, who search the hearts: 1 Kings 16: "God looks upon the heart"; Proverbs 15: "hell and destruction are before the Lord; how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" In another way thus: "before you," and so forth, that is, my desire is directed to this, that I be before you: Psalm 41: "my soul has thirsted," and so forth. "And my groaning is not hidden from you," that is, you approve of it, or you know it: Exodus 3: "seeing I have seen the affliction of my people," and so forth.

"My heart is troubled." Here he shows the necessity that his consolation be from God, because there is nothing in him from which he can be consoled. There are three things in man, namely intellect, will, and executive power: the intellect directs, the will commands, the power executes; and these three fail in me. For "my heart," that is, my affection, "is troubled," that is, is stirred with sorrow and commotion: Psalm 59: "you have moved the earth and troubled it," and so forth. Or it is troubled because of anxiety over the world. Likewise the executive power has forsaken me, which I had before sin. Or he speaks in the person of the human race. The power which I received in the first parent, so that I would not have corruption within or without, "has forsaken me" because of sin: Isaiah 50: "there is no strength in me." "And the light of my eyes," that is, my reason and mind, "is not with me," that is, they are deprived of the light of reason, by which men avoid evil and do good. Or, "the light of my eyes," that is, God, "is not with me" because of sin, because "your sins have hidden his face from you," Isaiah 59.

"My friends and my neighbors." Above the Psalmist diligently set forth his misery, which he suffers from above and from below; here, however, the misery he suffers from his equal. Concerning this he does two things. First he shows what he suffers from men. Second, for what cause, where he says, "but my enemies." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth the evils he suffers from men. Second he shows his patience amid them, where he says, "but I." Third he shows the cause of his patience, where he says, "for in you, O Lord." He shows, then, that he is afflicted by every kind of man; and fittingly, because he shows first that he suffers affliction from friends. Second from enemies, where he says, "and they used force." Friends afflict in two ways: by persecuting and by forsaking, because by this very fact that they do not help, they afflict. "And they that were near me." Likewise there is a twofold kind of friends. Some are friends only, and strangers. Some are friends and kinsmen; and he says he is afflicted by both. As to the first he says, "my friends." And it can be understood either in the person of Christ, who in this Psalm sometimes speaks for himself, sometimes for his members; or in the person of the penitent. If it is read in the person of Christ, it is manifest that the Jews, who were near, were adversaries to him: hence he says, "they drew near against me and stood." Or in the person of the penitent: and then, as Origen says, someone is in the world among sinners, and as long as he is in his sins they show him friendship; but when he abandons the world and sin, then sinners become adversaries to him: hence he says, "my friends," that is, those who were formerly friends. Ecclesiasticus 6: "there is a friend that is turned to enmity." "And my neighbors," that is, those joined to me in flesh: Micah 7: "a man's enemies are they of his own household"; Jeremiah 20: "I have heard the reproach of many, and terror on every side." "They drew near against me and stood." It happens that a friend sometimes opposes someone in word or deed; but yet he has such reverence for friendship that he does not oppose him to his face. And therefore he says that they not only stood afar off, but "drew near," that is, they contradicted him to his face as an enemy. Sometimes too a friend is moved against him in deed, yet does not persevere. But of these he says that they "stood," that is, they were adversaries to me: Psalm 2: "the kings of the earth stood up," and so forth. "And they that were near me stood afar off." Here he shows how he was forsaken. If this is expounded of Christ, he was truly forsaken: Matthew 26: "leaving him, they all fled." Likewise the penitent is forsaken after he is converted to God: hence, "and they that were near me," that is, friends by familiarity or by flesh, "stood afar off": Job 6: "behold, there is no help for me in myself, and my necessary friends also are departed from me"; Psalm 87: "you have put far from me friend and neighbor," and so forth.

"And they that sought my soul used violence." And he is thus afflicted not only by friends, but also by enemies. Now there is a twofold kind of enemies. Some are deadly enemies, and they kill. Others are not deadly, because they do not seek to kill; and he speaks here of both. Of the first he says, "they used violence who sought my soul," that is, they sought to kill me. Literally this is said of Christ, whom the Jews sought to kill: hence, "they used violence," that is, they inflicted violence: Proverbs 22: "do not offer violence to the poor, because he is poor." Jerome: "that they might use violence." Or, "they sought," namely the demons, or the friends, who wished to lead me into evil after I was converted to God, and they used violence against me. Of the second he says, "and they that sought evils to me spoke vain things," that is, they spoke lies against me. So it happened with the Jews against Christ, who, speaking lies, said, Luke 23: "we have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar." Likewise, "they meditated deceits all the day," that they might catch him in his speech, Matthew 22. Likewise this happens to any penitent: because a certain penitent, as Origen says, confesses his sin, and if it is necessary, does public penance; and he is derided by others who persevere in sin: Job 12: "the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn, and they speak many vain and false things against him"; Psalm 11: "they have spoken vain things every one." And they also lie in wait, if they find anything by which they might confound him: Proverbs 24: "lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just."

"But I, as a deaf man." Here he shows the patience he displayed. And first he sets forth the patience; second, the effect of the patience, where he says, "and I became as a man." When men are afflicted, unless they bear it patiently, they are first stirred in soul, then are disordered in words. But the remedy so that one not be stirred in soul is that he be like a deaf man, not hearing wicked words. And so he says, "but I, as a deaf man, heard not," that is, I pretended not to hear: Ecclesiastes 1: "the patient man will bear for a time." Likewise in the same book, 28: "hedge in your ears with thorns, and do not listen to a wicked tongue." And the remedy so that one not be disordered in word is that he be like a mute: Psalm 38: "I was dumb, and was humbled," and so forth. Hence he says, "and as a dumb man not opening his mouth." And Christ did this most of all, as is said in Matthew 27: "and he answered him never a word; so that the governor wondered exceedingly": Isaiah 53: "he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter," and so forth. So too just men ought to do: Psalm 38: "I set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me."

"And I became as a man that hears not." Here is set forth the effect of the patience; but this is against the opinion of the wicked, who impute this to cowardice, not to virtue. And he says, "I became," namely in their opinion, "as a man that hears not," and is not virtuous. Hence of Christ it is said, "you speak not to me," John 19. "And having no reproofs in his mouth," that is, as if he were not wise enough to answer. Hence of Christ it is said in Luke 23, that Herod mocked him and despised him.

"For in you, O Lord, have I hoped." Here is set forth the cause of the patience, which is threefold: on the part of God, on the part of the enemies, and on the part of himself. And on the part of God the cause of patience is that the whole matter is left to God. "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay," Hebrews 10. And so he says, "but I have hoped in you, O Lord"; as if he were to say: in you is my cause: Jeremiah 17: "you are my hope." And what do you hope for from God? "I said, you will hear me, O Lord my God." Origen: sometimes a man prays to God, and is not heard, because he himself does not hear God commanding: Proverbs 28: "he that turns away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination"; but he who obeys God and the law is then heard: James, last chapter: "the continual prayer of a just man avails much." Now God has commanded patience above all: Matthew 5: "if a man strike you on one cheek," and so forth. And so those are heard by God who know how to pray for their enemies, as the Church does; hence he says, Jeremiah 13: "if Moses and Samuel should stand before me," and so forth, because these in the Old Testament prayed for their enemies, "my soul is not toward this people," that is, I will not hear them for this people; as if he were to say: therefore, because I patiently endure, you will hear me.

"Because." Above the Psalmist set forth the evils he suffered from men; and he also showed his patience, and assigned one reason for patience on the part of God; here, however, he assigns the reason for patience on the part of the enemies. It sometimes happens, by the mercy of God, that one who suffers some tribulation endures the evils inflicted by others, so that he may have peace with his enemies: Proverbs 16: "when the ways of a man shall please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace"; Job 5: "the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you." And this is also natural, because no one is so fierce or cruel that when he sees someone humbled, he afflicts him further. Even a dog does not bite a man lying down. When, therefore, someone resists an enemy, he provokes the enemy to harm him, and God does not help: Psalm 7: "if I have rendered to them that repaid me evils," and so forth. And so he assigns here the reason for patience, which is that he not fall into their hands; and concerning this he does two things. First he mentions the bodily joy of his foes. Second, their insulting. He says therefore, "I said, lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me": if God did not wish to defend me, he would not look upon me, and thus my enemies would overcome me and rejoice. As to the second he says, "and whilst my feet are moved." Jerome has, "I fail"; our text has, "they have spoken great things against me." "And while my feet slip," and so forth. "They will speak." If this is understood of the past, then the sense is: I said, lest at any time, and so forth. This can be referred to experience; as if he were to say: I have found by experience that they would rejoice. But if my feet should slip, and so forth. Some fall utterly; some slip, but do not fall; some are weak. The wicked sometimes insult against some religious man, and speak especially against him. 1 Kings 2: "do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting." Psalm 11: "may the Lord destroy all deceitful lips."

The third reason is on the part of himself, namely on the part of the one suffering. First he sets forth the readiness of his soul. Second, the cause. He says therefore, "for I am ready for scourges." No one is impatient except concerning what he endures unwillingly. When, therefore, one is ready to endure, he is not impatient. Two kinds of men are to be considered. Some are those who are not scourged here, but are reserved for the eternal fire. Psalm 72: "they are not in the labor of men," and so forth, namely they are not corrected here. Others are those who are scourged in this world, because God corrects them as sons: Hebrews 12: "he scourges every son whom he receives." Gregory: "it is a sign of eternal reprobation when God gives no scourge to a man in the world." So too Ambrose refused to lodge in the house of one who had always been in prosperity. And so he says, "for I am ready for scourges." First he sets forth the sorrow. Second, the cause of the sorrow. Now it is customary that when someone suffers a grave pain, he endures another pain, so as to be freed from another more grave one: just as when a man endures the extraction of a tooth, so as to be freed from the pain of the tooth. And so he says, "I am ready for scourges," because I have another pain which I wish to cure. And so he says, "my sorrow," namely over my sins, "is in my sight always": Romans 9: "continual sorrow in my heart"; Lamentations 1: "O all you that pass by the way," and so forth. And this sorrow is greater than every other sorrow: not indeed in sensation, but according to the truth of the matter. Augustine says that all afflictions of the soul are caused by love: a man delights in what he loves, and fears the contrary of what he loves, and grieves likewise. Therefore the greater the love, the greater the sorrow over its contrary. But the least charity is the greatest love. Therefore sorrow over sin is the greatest; but it is not felt more, because the sensitive appetite is not moved except from the apprehension of sensible things, except through an overflow from reason. And hence it is that a man feels more sorrow over certain other things than over sin; yet according to reason he would rather endure it than sorrow over sin. The cause of this great sorrow is sin; and therefore he says:

"Because my iniquity." As if he were to say: I grieve for this reason, because I consider my sin, and this to such an extent that I make it manifest to others. Hence, "I will declare," that is, I will manifest to others, in which I feel the greatest remedy, which happens especially in confession, which gladdens the one who confesses: Proverbs 28: "he that hides his sins," and so forth. James, last chapter: "confess to one another," and so forth. Second is set forth satisfaction for sin, against those who so confess that they do not make satisfaction: Isaiah 38: "I will recall to you all my years," and so forth; Job 23: "considering him I am solicitous with fear." And here the three parts of penance are set forth. "My sorrow" is referred to contrition. "My iniquity," and so forth, to confession. "I will think," that is, I will make satisfaction, "for my sin," to satisfaction.

"But my enemies live," and so forth. Here is set forth a reason for mercy, namely the prosperity of the enemies; and he sets forth the cause as to three things. First as to the stability of heart, where he says, "live." Second as to the greatness of their power, where he says, "and are strengthened." Third as to their multitude, where he says, "and are multiplied." He says therefore, "my enemies live." And he continues. So Origen: a penitent, if he were sometimes left in peace, would think about his sin in penance; but so many tribulations rise up against him that it seems to him that he must defend himself. Yet he says that although my enemies live and prosper, I do not, however, put aside sorrow for my sins; for a man ought not to draw back from penance. Christ had many enemies, and has them: Psalm 119: "they have hated me without cause." And God has enemies: John 15: "they have hated both me and my Father." And other just men have many enemies who do not live without a scourge. "And are strengthened," that is, they have great power, that is, they are exceedingly powerful, "and they are multiplied that hate me unjustly," that is, unjustly, because they persecute me on account of the justice which I followed.

"They that render evil for good." Now there is a fourfold repayment. One is that which renders good for good; another which renders evil for evil; and these are common to the good and the wicked, because even a good man renders the evil of punishment for the evil of guilt: another is that which renders good for evil; and this belongs properly to the good: the fourth is that which renders evil for good, and this belongs to enemies. Jeremiah 18: "shall evil be rendered for good?" "They detracted from me": Romans 1: "detractors, hateful to God." There is a threefold detraction: one of which is evil, when a man detracts from another concerning his sin, even if the sins are hidden, because hidden things are not to be made public by way of detraction. Another is worse, when he detracts by falsehood. The worst, when he detracts not from a man, but from virtue: namely if you should say that chastity is evil. And so it is in the present case, because I followed goodness, "they detracted from me": Isaiah 5: "woe to them that call evil good, and good evil"; Daniel 6: "they found no occasion against Daniel, except concerning the law." The Gloss: "happy is the conscience against which nothing can be alleged except that it keeps the law of its God."

"Forsake me not, O Lord." Here is set forth the prayer: and he asks that what he fears be removed, and he asks that what he loves be granted to him, where he says, "attend unto my help." Here he asks not to be removed from, namely, the presence of God; hence he says, "forsake me not, O Lord my God," namely in tribulation: Psalm 90: "I am with him in tribulation"; Deuteronomy 31: "the Lord your God, he will not leave you." And even if you should seem to forsake me for a little while, yet do not utterly "depart from me," because I fear that of myself I cannot stand: Isaiah 54: "my mercy shall not depart from you." "Attend unto my help," that is, help me that I may progress. And note that this verse the Church says at the beginning of all the hours, because this verse avails against all temptations. Hence when we begin to pray, the devil tempts us; on account of which he asks for help: therefore he says, "attend," because you are God, the giver and preserver of my salvation: Psalm 143: "who gives salvation to kings," and so forth.